A look at India's medal winners at Tokyo Olympics 2020

Published at :July 26, 2024 at 7:47 PM

Modified at :July 26, 2024 at 7:48 PM

India won a total of seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Team India had its best-ever performance at Tokyo Olympics 2020. A total of seven medals were won, eclipsing the six earned in the 2012 London edition. This tally included one gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

The athletes had to face a number of challenges in the showpiece tournament, postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the Indian contingent, it was a roller coaster of emotions. There were a number of firsts. There were moments of history created. Some athletes punched way above their weights. While some others performed below their own expectations.

With analysts all over coming up with medal predictions for the Indian contingent at the Paris Olympics 2024, it is a good opportunity to recapitulate India’s winners in the previous edition:

Also Read: Total medals won by India in each sport at the Olympics

Gold Medal

Neeraj Chopra: Javelin Throw

Neeraj Chopra created history, winning Independent India’s first track and field medal at the Olympics. He also became the second Indian to win an individual Olympic gold.

After topping the qualification charts, the Haryana lad had the perfect start with a throw of 87.03m. Interestingly, this throw would have been sufficient to give him a top of the podium finish.

Nevertheless, Chopra made an improvement in his second throw, with his spear flying a distance of 87.58m. It soon became apparent that his competitors, who included decorated athletes like Jakub Vadlejch, Vitezslav Vesely, Julian Weber, Johannes Vetter among others could possibly only avail silver or bronze.

Silver Medals

Mirabai Chanu: Weightlifting

Many had touted the Manipuri weightlifter’s medal as the safest best in the lead-up to the Olympics and she didn’t disappoint. Having not completed the event at the Rio 2016 Olympics owing to failed attempts in all her three lifts in the clean and jerk section, she was up to the mark in the women’s 49kg event at Tokyo.

She had a successful second attempt of 87kg in snatch. Hou Zhihui of China set an Olympic record, with a lift of 94kg, ensuring daylight between herself and the Indian.

In the clean and jerk section, Chanu set an Olympic record of 115kg only to be eclipsed again by the eventual gold medalist, who managed a successful lift of 116kg. But the then 26-year-old’s total lift of 202kg was enough to give her a historic silver medal- India’s first ever in the sport, incidentally also India’s first medal at the Tokyo Games.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya: Wrestling

Wrestler Ravi Dahiya clinched the silver medal in the men’s 57kg category, becoming only the second Indian wrestler after Sushil Kumar to do so.

The 2019 World Championships bronze medallist had a dream start, with two victories by technical superiority giving him entry into the semifinals. The semi-final saw the wrestler from Haryana making a stunning comeback.

Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan was all over the Indian, leading 9-2 at one point. After reducing the deficit to 5-9, the three-time Asian Champion scored a two-point takedown and converted it to a pin, holding on despite being bitten by the Kazakh wrestler.

Dahiya eventually lost to Russian Olympic Committee wrestler Zaur Uguev in the gold medal bout, but by winning a silver medal, he became a household name.

Bronze Medals

Indian men’s hockey team

The most successful team in the history of field hockey at the Olympics, the Indian men’s hockey team ended a 41-year-old medal drought, clinching a bronze at Tokyo.

Despite a crushing 7-0 loss to Australia in the group stage, the team didn’t lose its morale, eventually finishing second in the table.

They then had a commanding 3-1 victory in the quarterfinals against Great Britain, thus reaching the quarterfinals of the Olympics for the first time since the introduction of astroturf.

The Manpreet Singh led side lost 2-5 in the semifinal to eventual gold medalists Belgium, in a game which was much closer than the scoreline suggested.

A topsy-turvy bronze medal clash against Germany followed. India were trailing 1-3 at one point, but they came storming back. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh saved a penalty corner in the dying seconds, as India clinched the match 5-4.

PV Sindhu: Badminton

PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman and just the second Indian after wrestler Sushil Kumar to win two individual Olympic medals. She stood up to her tag of being a big-tournament player, with a bronze medal at Tokyo, following her silver at Rio.

She had a couple of easy matches in the group stage, before she dispatched Dane Mia Blichfeldt in the round of 16. She then defeated fourth seed Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinal, in yet another victory in direct sets.

Also Read: Which Indian athletes have won most medals at Olympics?

The former World Champion then ran into her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying in the semi-final. She fought hard, especially in the first set, but the Chinese Taipei shuttler was at her best.

The Hyderabadi shuttler got a second shot at a podium finish in the bronze medal match, where she absolutely walloped He Bing Jiao in direct sets, thus creating history.

Lovlina Borgohain: Boxing

Lovlina Borgohain became the second Indian female boxer, after the legendary Mary Kom, to win an Olympic medal, clinching the bronze medal in the Women’s 69kg category.

She didn’t have it easy though. The round of 16 saw her triumphing over German Nadine Apetz in a hard-fought clash, by a 3-2 split decision.

She knew she was one step away from a medal, when she entered the ring to compete against Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei. The boxer from Golaghat, Assam was able to use her height advantage to good effect. A huge roar came out, as a 4-1 split victory was announced for the three-time World Championship medallist.

In the semifinals, she came up against a much superior boxer in the form of World Number #1 and eventual gold medallist Turkish Busenaz Surmeneli. She was decimated, losing by a unanimous decision against her. Nevertheless, she had managed to win India’s second medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Bajrang Punia: Wrestling

Bajrang Punia emulated his Guru Yogeshwar Dutt, winning a bronze medal at Tokyo, in the men’s 65kg category. Much was expected of the four-time World Championships medallist, but a knee injury suffered in the lead-up to the Olympics, threatened to derail his campaign.

The first match provided a major scare, as he defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Ernazar Akmataliev. Although both wrestlers had won three points apiece, the Indian reigned supreme after having the highest-scoring move of the match.

While he had a clinical win in the next match against Iran’s Morteza Ghiasi, he was defeated by three-time World Champion (in the 61kg category) Azerbaijan’s Haji Aliyev by a convincing margin of 12-5.

Realizing that the strapping on his knee was causing a hindrance, he got rid of it before the bronze medal bout. Despite the added risk of injury, the wrestler from Jhajjar, Haryana played a near flawless game. He dismantled Daulet Niyazbekov of Kazakhstan 8-0, thus managing to ensure a podium finish.

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